Some of the most spectacular and frightening wrecks in the history of NASCAR have occurred at Talladega, which is a big drawing card for the track and makes the races there two of the most highly anticipated events of the year.

Here’s a look at six of the most worst and most spectacular crashes at Talladega:

Bobby Allison’s 1987 crash is one of the most memorable in NASCAR history.

And not just because it was frightening and spectacular — it also changed the racing at NASCAR’s two biggest and fastest tracks.

Allison blew an engine early in the race, causing him to cut a tire and sending his car spinning wildly down the frontstrech. Allison’s car lifted off the track and slammed into the catch fence, tearing a section of the fence apart near the flag stand and nearly sending his car flying into the grandstands.

Allison had qualified on the front row at more than 211 mph and the field was running an average speed of 208 during the race.

As a result of the horrifying crash, NASCAR implemented carburetor restrictor plates to reduce the horsepower of the engines and curb speed. The restrictor plates have been used since then at Daytona and Talladega, creating wild packs of racing and, ironically, leading to even more big crashes.

Allison says, however, that NASCAR did the right thing by implementing restrictor plates after his crash.

“The restrictor plate makes wrecks at 195 (mph) instead of 240,” Allison said in a 2007 interview on Speed’s NASCAR Race Day. “We would be in the grandstands right now at the speeds they would be running unrestricted.”

Allison hates to even think about what might have happened had his car flown into the grandstands.

Twenty-two years after Allison’s horrifying crash, another spectacular wreck at Talladega was eerily similar.

Carl Edwards was racing Brad Keselowski for the win on the final lap of the Aaron’s 499 when their cars made contact.

As Edwards’ car spun and began to lift off the ground, it was hit by the car driven by Ryan Newman. That collision launched Edwards’ car into the air and sent it flying into the catch fence.

Like Allison’s crash, the collision tore up part of the fence and sent car parts and pieces of fencing flying into the grandstands, injuring several fans.

“That is 1987 all over again,” Fox analyst Darrell Waltrip said while watching replays of the crash.

Edwards was not injured and climbed from his car and jogged across the finish line.

Nearly a year later, he would get even, retaliating against Keselowski and sending his car flying through the air at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

3. Ricky Craven, 1996 Winston 500

Few drivers have ever taken a scarier ride than Ricky Craven in the 1996 Winston 500.

Craven was the biggest victim in a wild, multicar crash in Turn 2.

The chain-reaction crash started when Mark Martin drifted up the track and hit Jeff Gordon, sending Martin’s car spinning down the track, where it hit Craven’s.

Craven’s green No. 41 flipped over and rolled up the banking, where it lifted off the ground and flew into the catch fence.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Craven’s car ricocheted back across the track and slammed back onto the pavement on the drivers-side door. As it sailed through the air, five cars raced beneath Craven’s flying car.

Craven’s impact with the pavement was so violent that it sent car parts flying all around the speedway and the car had asphalt embedded into the roof when it was hauled back to the garage. Ricky Rudd’s car, meanwhile, had tire and fender marks on its roof from Craven’s car flying over the top of it.

Craven also suffered a severe impact, suffering several minor injuries, including a black eye.

“When I saw (the replay), I thought, ‘Man, I feel sorry for whoever that is,” Craven said a few days after the crash. “It knocked me out for a bit and I knew that I had gotten beaten up. I’m so lucky it’s unbelievable.”

It’s not unusual to see cars flipping and rolling and flying through the air at Talladega.

It is unusual, though, to see them sail completely out of the racetrack.

That’s what happened to Jimmy Horton’s car in the 1993 Diehard 500.

When Horton was involved in a six-car crash in Turn 1, his No. 32 Chevrolet got hit in the side by the car driven by Stanley Smith. The collision sent Horton’s car rolling up the banking of the track — and right on over the Turn 1 wall.

Horton’s car rolled down a grassy embankment and came to rest upright on an access road, the sheet metal ripped from its hood, roof and rear deck lid. The crash was so frightening that it prompted speedway officials to erect a catch fence all the way around the track.

“I can’t remember the last time we saw a car out of the speedway,” CBS analyst and former driver Ned Jarrett said. “It’s been a long, long time.”

Horton climbed from his car uninjured, and after several minutes, climbed up the embankment and back over the wall.

Smith was not so fortunate. His car slammed head-on into the wall after making contact with Horton. He suffered a basilar skull fracture — the same injury that killed Dale Earnhardt and Neil Bonnett. Smith spent several months in the hospital, but recovered and is retired from racing.

Most drivers are simply glad to be alive after climbing out of their demolished cars after a crash at Talladega.

Not Ryan Newman. He was mad, and not at the driver who wrecked him. He was livid at NASCAR officials, whom he blamed for the crash.

Newman was racing in a big pack when he collided with another car, setting off a chain-reaction crash.

Newman’s car lifted off the ground, flipped and landed on the hood of Kevin Harvick’s car. It then slid up the track on its roof, slamming into the outside retaining wall and sliding back down the asphalt banking.

Newman rolled one more time before his car came to rest on its roof on the frontstretch grass, trapping him inside. Safety workers had to use a tow truck to flip Newman’s car upright before cutting off the roof so he could climb out.

Newman, who had been one of the most vocal critics of restrictor-plate racing, went off after exiting the infield care center.

“It’s really disappointing,” Newman said. “We had a race here in the spring and I complained about cars getting airborne. Now, ironically, I’m the guy who gets upside-down with roll bars on top of my helmet and stuck upside-down inside my car.

“I wish NASCAR would do something. This is not something anybody wants to see. I hope not; if they do, they need to go home because you don’t belong here.

“It’s just a product of this racing and the box NASCAR has put us in with these restrictor plates. … This is not racing.”